What to say when campaigning door-to-door? A script is the one-word answer to this question. A script is what you will say when campaigning door-to-door. This script is created by the person or team who is organizing the door-to-door campaign. You don’t have to memorize the whole script word to word but the script will guide you want to say and what to ask. For example, you may want to ask what’s the most important issue affecting for example the voter if you are part of political campaigning.
You even want to ask what issues are affecting them nationally and locally. Avoid debate or confrontation during door-to-door campaigns. Keep it short and sweet. You can’t convince everybody and that is okay. So, in any case, you want to prepare a script beforehand and follow the script during the door-to-door campaign.
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The first thing that you want to say when campaigning door-to-door
You want to introduce yourself and tell them that you are campaigning on behalf of candidate X and do they have a minute? If they say yes then you continue with your script. If they say no you say thank you and move on. Same if they shut the door you simply move on to the next door. Remember the script is there to help you navigate through the conversation. We don’t want to answer all of their questions or convince them then and there.
Most voters will convert into voting for your candidate during follow-ups with them. This is not different than a sales campaign where prospects get converted into clients only after follow-ups with them. Don’t just refer them to your candidate’s website because nobody goes to the candidate’s website a very few of them do.
Carry a clipboard, piece of paper, and pen
Piece of paper can have printed questionnaire and some blank space to take notes. You keep filling the questionnaire as you follow through with the script. You want to take notes of the response that you get from the voters on the piece of paper. This will help your fellow campaigners with the information they need creates a feedback loop of what to expect and what to ask.
This also helps to keep track of responses that you and your team are getting from the voters. If the voters are supporters of a candidate then you can even ask if they like to volunteer if they will like to make phone calls on behalf of your candidate and you can even ask them for their email.
What dress should you wear during door-to-door campaigning?
Since you are doing door-to-door campaigning should dress for the outdoors. Wear comfortable clothes without any messaging on them. You want to appear approachable to everybody. Wear comfortable sneakers because most of the time you will be on your foot and walking for some time. Ear a small portion and carry a bottle of water before you go for door-to-door campaigning. So prepare as you will do for any other outdoor activity.
If you are campaigning in an urban environment so for example in an apartment building use. From the start from the top floor working your way towards the ground floor. If you are doing a door-to-door campaign in the rural environment you can either park your car and walk door-to-door or do a combination of driving and walking door-to-door depending upon how the spread of voters is that you are going to cover.
Follow-up with the voters that you meet during a door-to-door campaign
In the sales, world prospects get converted to customers in about 7 to 8 follow-ups. The door-to-door campaign is no different. An undecided voter or supporter will not switch sides unless you are able to convince him or her. So, follow with the voters regarding the questions they might ask you during your campaign. Give them a call and try to answer them and inform them about the position of your candidate.
This is the same as removing all the objections a prospect might have and converting or him or her to a customer. You can follow with them via phone calls or via email pr with whatever means of the communication channel they prefer and have provided you.
The goal of door-to-door campaign
At the end of the day, the goal of a door-to-door campaign is to convince voters to vote for your candidate on the election day if you are running a political campaign. So based on the three types of voters, a supporter of your candidate, a supporter of the opposition candidate, and undecided voters, you need to have different strategies for each of the three types of voters. Though all three types of voters are important to reach the end goal.
You want to convince the support of the opposition candidate to get to your side by removing all his or her objections. The undecided voters are the most crucial type of voters. You want to answer all the questions explain your candidate’s position clearly and convince them to come to your side. For the supporters of your candidate, you want to get them to get actively involved in the campaign. As explained earlier you can offer them to join the campaign have them make phone calls and do such activities so that they can contribute towards the cause of your candidate.
Conclusion
The door-to-door campaign is not much different than a good old door-to-door sale. As the door-to-door salesman or saleswoman tries to convert prospects into buyers you try to convince voters to vote for your candidate. That’s the only goal you want to reach no matter what path you take or what script you follow to convince them to vote for your candidate.
So always keep that in mind and move the conversation back towards that goal whenever they try to deviate. Same as a salesman moves the prospect towards the sale despite all the objections and deviations. Now you know what to say when campaigning door-to-door. So, if you and your campaign team convince them to vote for your candidate you get the ultimate prize, the win.
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